Last year: 5-6, lost to Cheatham County in the first round of the playoffs

'13 dreams: Grundy will be able to score with various options and the ability to run and throw from the spread, led by eight returning starters including sophomore quarterback Houston Mainord and senior running backs Mike Nolan and Dylan Cleek. Nolan and Cleek are among seven returning defensive starters who'll be in a 3-3 stack this year after the 5-3 alignment last season.

13-for-13 contenders: Nolan and Cleek rarely come off the field, and each is a three-year starter, but the Jackets also have high hopes for senior lineman Arthur Roberts (6-foot-3, 375) and junior receiver Trevor Hampton (6-3, 165).

Number of interest: The Yellow Jackets have struggled off and on, and one has to go all the way back to 1978 to tally 13 winning seasons for the program. Their best year in that time was in 1993, when they won 10 of 13 games.

13 years ago: Bryant was a senior playing quarterback for Grundy County, which had a 5-5 regular season and the school's first playoff win in seven years - 26-19 over Greenbrier. The Jackets lost to Portland the next week.

Program superstition: None, said Bryant, adding, "We like to say they're tricks of the devil."

1-through-3: Running back/linebacker Mike Nolan

Q. What's your take on last year's performance?

A. We did pretty well, especially considering we had a bunch of young guys playing. We will have a more mature team this year because of it, though.

Q. Grundy's made the playoffs three years in a row. What's the goal this year?

A. We definitely want to make it past the first round [of the playoffs].

Q. Where does Grundy fit in the District 7-AA race?

A. It's looking like Signal [Mountain], but I feel we can stand toe-to-toe with just about anybody. We have some young talent that is stepping up, we have more seniors than we've had in a while and we've been having 50 or more at practice. That's 15-20 more than in the past."